EPA Administrator Makes A Hartford Homecoming

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy

Win McNamee

Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and previous head of the state's environmental department, dropped in on her former colleagues Tuesday. McCarthy, 60, is pictured here at a conference in Washington, D.C.

Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and previous head of the state's environmental department, dropped in on her former colleagues Tuesday. McCarthy, 60, is pictured here at a conference in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee)

Commissioner Rob Klee introduced and welcomed McCarthy, a "witty and inspirational presence," he said, before announcing that the crème, pink and green auditorium would be renamed the Gina McCarthy Auditorium to honor her long list of accomplishments in Connecticut as well as her work pushing the country through its first major attempt to beat back the effects of climate change.

HARTFORD — Since the start of this year, Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy has been scoring big points with Connecticut environmentalists. He's come down on the side of protecting glass eels, agreed to ban waste from natural gas fracking, backed clean water and open space funding, and announced the...

(GREGORY B. HLADKY)

"I was worried about what you were going to actually name it. I've been known to have some pointed statements and colorful language. I thought you might call it the 'wicked-cool auditorium,'" McCarthy said, her Boston accent in full force.

One employee said McCarthy would hold monthly meetings with managers in the auditorium, where she would sit on the stage, with her feet swinging off the ground, and take all sorts of questions.

McCarthy, 60, made other stops in Bridgeport and New Haven on her trip through the state Tuesday, stopping at a fuel cell park in Bridgeport and an aquaculture school in New Haven. In Hartford, she stressed how environmental protection and economic growth need to be seen as complimentary, rather than as opposing, forces.

The nation's economy would not be where it was today, she argued, if it did not take care of its environmental issues. "We just wouldn't be and we need to remind people of that," McCarthy said. "I can make that case to any human being that comes in front of me."

In June, the Environmental Protection Agency released a draft rule that calls for the state to cut emissions of greenhouse gases from existing power plants by nearly a third in the 15 years. While Connecticut and other New England states should make quick work of that target, the plan quickly gained opponents from those in areas where the power sector largely relies on coal and oil.

"The one thing that the EPA needs to be a little bit clearer about is what we do for a living and why it matters, because in the end all that remains is about public health and about the next generation," she said, "And you helped me focus that. You helped me stay energized. You taught me so much. I will forever be grateful."

McCarthy joked and took questions from her former employees.

Yes, her current chief of staff who also worked for her in Connecticut is doing well, although he works too much and eats too many candy bars. Yes, there's assigned seating at White House cabinet meetings. No, McCarthy is not in the line of presidential succession, which she said is a good thing.

"Washington is great. They are just as mission driven as you guys are. It's just not quite as fun," she said.

McCarthy has sensed a change in tone in the forums and visits about climate change she makes around the country. "There are big differences now," she said.

"You are feeling the impacts of climate. The science is very definitive, and we have solutions to offer. We no longer have to worry that once we admit it, we've got nowhere to go: We have technologies out there. And we can do this in a way that will continue the strong economic growth we have been seeing."

But there are many challenges too, she said.

"Our challenge is to convince people that what we are doing is following the direction of the energy transition in the United States, and that we have provided the flexibility for that to work in every state. … Climate resilience is going to be one of the toughest issues we deal with," she said.

The power sector, parts of which have been some of the most vocal opponents of the climate change plan, McCarthy said, are coming around and are being modernized by the push to cut greenhouse gases.

"They were a sector that was growing old fast, wasn't investing in itself, wasn't frankly doing anything and they got bypassed," she said. "They are now catching up because we are telling them to integrate the things that you want in the world for them to do. We want them to be efficient. We want them to be reliable. We want them as cheap as we can get them, and we want them to be sustainable, which means low carbon."